Radiotherapy is the most effective treatment for local disease either as the sole treatment for low-grade lymphoma or in combination with chemotherapy for intermediate- and high-grade lymphoma. Radiotherapy dose in range of 30-45 Gy administered in fractions are advised in treating the local orbital lymphomas.

The high cure rates and long survival of many patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma has led to a high concern with late adverse effects of treatment, including cardiovascular disease and second malignancies such as acute leukemias, lymphomas, and solid tumors within the radiation therapy field. Most patients with early-stage disease are now treated with abbreviated chemotherapy and involved-field radiation therapy rather than with radiation therapy alone. Clinical research strategies are exploring reduction of the duration of chemotherapy and dose and volume of radiation therapy in an attempt to reduce late morbidity and mortality of treatment while maintaining high cure rates. Hospitals are also treating those who respond quickly to chemotherapy with no radiation.

In childhood cases of Hodgkin's lymphoma, long-term endocrine adverse effects are a major concern, mainly gonadal dysfunction and growth retardation. Gonadal dysfunction seems to be the most severe endocrine long-term effect, especially after treatment with alkylating agents or pelvic radiotherapy.

Patients with early stage disease (IA or IIA) are effectively treated with radiation therapy or chemotherapy. The choice of treatment depends on the age, sex, bulk and the histological subtype of the disease. Adding localised radiation therapy after the chemotherapy regimen may provide a longer progression-free survival compared with chemotherapy treatment alone. Patients with later disease (III, IVA, or IVB) are treated with combination chemotherapy alone. Patients of any stage with a large mass in the chest are usually treated with combined chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

It should be noted that the common non-Hodgkin's treatment, rituximab (which is a monoclonal antibody against CD20) is not routinely used to treat Hodgkin's lymphoma due to the lack of CD20 surface antigens in most cases. The use of rituximab in Hodgkin's lymphoma, including the lymphocyte predominant subtype has been recently reviewed.

Although increased age is an adverse risk factor for Hodgkin's lymphoma, in general elderly patients without major comorbidities are sufficiently fit to tolerate standard therapy, and have a treatment outcome comparable to that of younger patients. However, the disease is a different entity in older patients and different considerations enter into treatment decisions.

For Hodgkin's lymphomas, radiation oncologists typically use external beam radiation therapy (sometimes shortened to EBRT or XRT). Radiation oncologists deliver external beam radiation therapy to the lymphoma from a machine called linear accelerator which produces high energy X Rays and Electrons. Patients usually describe treatments as painless and similar to getting an X-ray. Treatments last less than 30 minutes each.

For lymphomas, there are a few different ways radiation oncologists target the cancer cells. Involved field radiation is when the radiation oncologists give radiation only to those parts of the patient's body known to have the cancer. Very often, this is combined with chemotherapy. Radiation therapy directed above the diaphragm to the neck, chest or underarms is called mantle field radiation. Radiation to below the diaphragm to the abdomen, spleen or pelvis is called inverted-Y field radiation. Total nodal irradiation is when the therapist gives radiation to all the lymph nodes in the body to destroy cells that may have spread.

The most common chemotherapy used for non-Hodgkin lymphoma is R-CHOP.

Hodgkin lymphoma typically is treated with radiotherapy alone, as long as it is localized.

Advanced Hodgkin disease requires systemic chemotherapy, sometimes combined with radiotherapy. Chemotherapy used includes the ABVD regimen, which is commonly used in the United States. Other regimens used in the management of Hodgkin lymphoma include BEACOPP and Stanford V. Considerable controversy exists regarding the use of ABVD or BEACOPP. Briefly, both regimens are effective, but BEACOPP is associated with more toxicity. Encouragingly, a significant number of people who relapse after ABVD can still be salvaged by stem cell transplant.

Palliative care, a specialized medical care focused on the symptoms, pain, and stress of a serious illness, is recommended by multiple national cancer treatment guidelines as an accompaniment to curative treatments for people suffering from lymphoma. It is used to address both the direct symptoms of lymphoma and many unwanted side effects that arise from treatments. Palliative care can be especially helpful for children who develop lymphoma, helping both children and their families deal with the physical and emotional symptoms of the disease. For these reasons, palliative care is especially important for patients requiring bone marrow transplants.

Nevertheless, the Working Formulation and the NHL category continue to be used by many. To this day, lymphoma statistics are compiled as Hodgkin's versus non-Hodgkin lymphomas by major cancer agencies, including the US National Cancer Institute in its SEER program, the Canadian Cancer Society and the IARC.

Watchful waiting (watch and wait) was defined as a period of observation of at least 3 months without any treatment.

Surgical lymph node excision may be carried out at the time of diagnosis in certain cases such in children diagnosed at an early stage of progression. One study found sustained complete remission in half of the cases with a watch-and-wait strategy after surgical lymph node excision at the time of diagnosis.

Orbital lymphoma accounts for 55% of malignant orbital tumors in adults. In one study, this was 10% of patients presenting with orbital tumors or similar lesions. Orbital lymphoma is more prevalent in Asia and Europe than in the United States.

Although intraocular lymphoma is rare, the number of cases per year is rising, affecting mainly people in their seventies and immunocompromised patients. A recent study has shown that ocular lymphoma is more prevalent in women than men.

The survival rate is approximately 60% after 5 years.

Multiagent chemotherapy is recommended, but the preferred regimen is controversial, as is consolidative radiotherapy.

There is no cure for CTCL, but there are a variety of treatment options available and some CTCL patients are able to live normal lives with this cancer, although symptoms can be debilitating and painful, even in earlier stages. FDA approved treatments include the following:

- (1999) Denileukin diftitox (Ontak)

- (2000) Bexarotene (Targretin) a retinoid

- (2006) Vorinostat (Zolinza) a hydroxymate histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor

- (2009) Romidepsin (Istodax) a cyclic peptide histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors are shown to have antiproliferative and cytotoxic properties against CTCL.Other (off label) treatments include:

In 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted orphan drug designation for a topical treatment for pruritus in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma to a pharmaceutical company called Elorac.

Breast implant-associated ALCL is a recently recognized lymphoma and definitive management and therapy is under evaluation. However, it appears that removal of the implant, and resection of the capsule around the implant as well as evaluation by medical and surgical oncologists are cornerstones. Still under evaluation is the extent of capsulectomy: partial versus complete capsulectomy; similarly it is not defined the significance of replacement of the implant in the affected breast, or the removal of contralateral implant. Similarly, the value of radiation therapy and chemotherapy are under evaluation.

Currently, there is a drug, LDK378, undergoing Phase III clinical trials at Vanderbilt University that targets ALK positive small cell lung cancer, and has showed clinical promise in its previous clinical trials. Because approximately 70% of ALCL neoplasms are also ALK positive, there is hope that similar highly selective and potent ALK inhibitors may be used in the future to treat ALK positive cases of ALCL.

The prognosis varies according with the type of ALCL. During treatment, relapses may occur but these typically remain sensitive to chemotherapy.

Those with ALK positivity have better prognosis than ALK negative ALCL. It has been suggested that ALK-negative anaplastic large-cell lymphomas derive from other T-cell lymphomas that are morphologic mimics of ALCL in a final common pathway of disease progression. Whereas ALK-positive ALCLs are molecularly characterized and can be readily diagnosed, specific immunophenotypic or genetic features to define ALK-negative ALCL are missing and their distinction from other T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas (T-NHLs) remains controversial, although promising diagnostic tools for their recognition have been developed and might be helpful to drive appropriate therapeutic protocols.

Systemic ALK+ ALCL 5-year survival: 70–80%.

Systemic ALK- ALCL 5-year survival: 15–45%.

Primary Cutaneous ALCL: Prognosis is good if there is not extensive involvement regardless of whether or not ALK is positive with an approximately 90% 5-year survival rate.

Breast implant-associated ALCL has an excellent prognosis when the lymphoma is confined to the fluid or to the capsule surrounding the breast implant. This tumor can be recurrent and grow as a mass around the implant capsule or can extend to regional lymph nodes if not properly treated.

Of all cancers involving the same class of blood cell, 2% of cases are cutaneous T cell lymphomas. CTCL is more common in men and in African-American people. The incidence of CTCL in men is 1.6 times higher than in women.

There is some evidence of a relationship with human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV) with the adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma subtype. No definitive link between any viral infection or environmental factor has been definitely shown with other CTCL subtypes.

Follicular large-cell lymphoma is a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (cancer of the lymphatic system) with large cells that look cleaved (split) or non-cleaved under the microscope. It is an indolent (slow-growing) type of lymphoma.

In MeSH, it is currently classified under follicular lymphoma.

The B-cell lymphomas are types of lymphoma affecting B cells. Lymphomas are "blood cancers" in the lymph nodes. They develop more frequently in older adults and in immunocompromised individuals.

B-cell lymphomas include both Hodgkin's lymphomas and most non-Hodgkin lymphomas. They are typically divided into low and high grade, typically corresponding to indolent (slow-growing) lymphomas and aggressive lymphomas, respectively. As a generalisation, indolent lymphomas respond to treatment and are kept under control (in remission) with long-term survival of many years, but are not cured. Aggressive lymphomas usually require intensive treatments, with some having a good prospect for a permanent cure.

Prognosis and treatment depends on the specific type of lymphoma as well as the stage and grade. Treatment includes radiation and chemotherapy. Early-stage indolent B-cell lymphomas can often be treated with radiation alone, with long-term non-recurrence. Early-stage aggressive disease is treated with chemotherapy and often radiation, with a 70-90% cure rate. Late-stage indolent lymphomas are sometimes left untreated and monitored until they progress. Late-stage aggressive disease is treated with chemotherapy, with cure rates of over 70%.

Of all cancers involving the same class of blood cell, 8% of cases are mature T cell lymphomas. Of such cases, 2% are precursor T lymphoblastic and 2% are cutaneous T cell lymphomas.

Primary mediastinal (thymic) large B-cell lymphoma, also called primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMLBCL) and mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma, is a distinct type of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma involving the mediastinum, recognized in the WHO 2008 classification.

The T-cell lymphomas are four types of lymphoma that affect T cells. These account for about one in ten cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

They can be associated with Epstein Barr virus and Human T-cell leukemia virus-1.

Additionally, some researchers separate out lymphomas that appear to result from other immune system disorders, such as AIDS-related lymphoma.

Classic Hodgkin's lymphoma and nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin's lymphoma are now considered forms of B-cell lymphoma.

The basis of management is to find and correct the underlying cause. Many times cats with EGC will respond to treatment with corticosteroids or to ciclosporin.

Mixed-cell lymphomas are lymphomas that have both large cells and small cells in them. This nomenclature is derived from an older system of pathology, before technological advances allowed much more precise descriptions of the affected cancerous cells.

In MeSH, the phrase "mixed-cell lymphoma" is currently classified under non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

PTGC is treated by excisional biopsy and follow-up. It may occasionally recur and in a small proportion of patients has been reported to subsequently develop Hodgkin lymphoma (usually nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma).

Because granuloma annulare is usually asymptomatic and self-limiting with a course of about 2 years, initial treatment is generally topical steroid creams, followed by oral steroids and finally intradermal injections at the site of each ring. Treatment success varies widely, with most patients finding only brief success with the above-mentioned treatments. New research out of India suggests that the combination of rifampin (600 mg), ofloxacin (400 mg), and minocycline hydrochloride (100 mg) once monthly, or ROM therapy, produces promising results. Most lesions of granuloma annulare disappear in pre-pubertal patients with no treatment within two years while older patients (50+) have rings for upwards of 20 years. The appearance of new rings years later is not uncommon.